I thought they nailed it. I won't even go into too much detail about the big four (Pacino, DeNiro, Keitel and Pesci). We knew they were gonna bring it. But Pacino ran away with the film. And I'm not fan-boying here, either. His presence was felt in every scene he was in. If this were a two hour film, picking up when Hoffa and Sheeran met, and culminating with Hoffa's disappearance, you could make a case for Pacino having equal billing in the lead. If that were the case, he'd be worthy of Best Actor. But who knows with the Academy? As it stands, he should run away with Best Supporting Actor. But if Pesci gets nominated, too, they might hurt each other and give it away.
Agree. And, "who knows with the Academy?" may be the understatement of the year.
And, as for welcome, I'll paraphrase Fredo to Frankie at Anthony's party: "Pizzaboy, I thought you was never comin' back!"